The Thief

Luke 23:1-56

The men who hung beside Christ were thieves in this world and were caught. There was no escape for them. They had earned what they now faced: punishment, shame, and suffering.

How they chose to spend what little time they had left on earth was curious to me. The first thief outwardly mocked Christ. The other questioned His identity and claims of deity. The latter ultimately decided to believe and was assured a place in paradise that very day.

The “how” did not bother me as much as the “why”.

The thief gets to go to heaven, but why? Why is this even acceptable? He didn't “earn” it. So he is a screw up his whole life but he gets a free pass right at the end?

The story stuck with me; it was unsettling for reasons I could not place. It irked me to be missing some key understanding. However, the answer would arise repeatedly, in subtle and at times, astounding ways throughout my life: grace.

This thief was not a member of a religious organization, nor had he the opportunity to make a public statement of faith with a water baptism, nor had he paid any tithes to his church. It had been impossible for him to “earn” his salvation with these human-approved rituals. What he did do was believe.

He simply believed and was saved by grace through faith.

Because of grace, we do not get what we deserve. No other realization has ever humbled me more than when I could finally piece together the spiritual implications of the thief on the cross. The magnitude of grace is unfathomable to my human comprehension, yet I am filled with gratitude.

This story gives me hope because I know that I too am nothing more than a thief in this world. Yet, I believe.